Next up on stage after the lunch break, we will be seeing the female duo alyona alyona & Jerry Heil on their first rehearsal as the representatives of Ukraine in this year’s competition with “Teresa & Maria”.
Who are alyona alyona & Jerry Heil?
Aliona Olehivna Savranenko better known by her stage name Alyona Alyona is a Ukrainian rapper and songwriter and she was born on 14 June 1991. Alyona started writing rap music in the middle of the 2000s, with multiple attempts to reach a wider audience. Her initial stage name was Alyona Al.kaida. Alyona is a very controversial figure to the ukrainian society as she was praised in the a Vogue issue as “Ukraine’s most unlikely rap star”. She also has been dubbed “the new rap star of Ukraine” and “the sensation of Ukrainian rap” by Ukrainian media and “The New York Times” likened her to the famous female raper Azealia Banks.
Yana Oleksandrivna Shemaieva, known as an artist by Jerry Heil, is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter and YouTuber. She was born on 21 October 1995 in a city outside Kyiv called Vasylkiv. She began her career after launching her YouTube channel in 2012, publishing vlogs and musical covers. Jerry began her professional music career in 2017, releasing her debut EP. Since starting her YouTube channel, she has accumulated more than 34.9 million views and 395 thousand subscribers.
Teresa & Maria is a self-described as a song about hope inspired by Roman Catholic saint Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary, the song was written by Alyona, Heil, Anton Chilibi, and Ivan Klymenko. The song won Ukraine’s National Selection for Eurovision called Vidbir earlier this year.
The Rehearsal
Unfortunately this year, accredited journalists don’t get the chance to watch the first and second rehearsals, so we only get the information and content that the organizers officially release to the public.
The folk ukranian duo appears on the stage with beige costumes, specifically Jerry Heil wears a ethereal floaty dress that blends perfectly with the shadowy figures on the LED wall and the choral backing vocals. The performance feels hymnal and haunting.
The performance from the ukrainian national selection has been elevated, there is a rock prop on stage, such as Serbia’s staging. The prop reminds a bit from last year’s Armenia’s prop on “Future Lover”. In rap part of the song, while alyona alyona emerges from stage right to deliver her rap interlude, Jerry Heil climbs the prop via a wind machine. At the final reherarsal, there was no pyro for Ukraine’s performace, but there is a beautiful overhead shot at the end that incorporates their two bodies into a multi-person visual.
Below you can watch a small clip from the Ukranian first rehearsal, once it’s published on TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@eurovision/video/7362567482831424801?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7227990472449377818
The second rehearsal for Ukraine will be held on the 1st of May, when we will know how things will appear on screen for Jerry and Alyona.
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Source: eurovision.tv
